Everyone has a secret splurge item, that one non-necessity you'll go to the mat defending your right to spend good money on. My friend Alison has been known to buy herself a good purse or three. My dad throws his wallet at tools and gadgets. My husband spares no expense on vented summer sneakers that look unfathomably like crushed bugs. Me, I've got it bad for jeans.

I am obsessed with jeans. I love the shadow of them hanging on a clothes line, and the tidy weight of them folded in a drawer. I love their comfort, their reliability, and—now that the East Coast has caught up with the West and denim officially qualifies as eveningwear [1]—their versatility. Growing up East Indian in New Mexico, blue jeans were the easiest way for my brother and I to shed our masala geekiness for what the Shaun Cassidy Fan Club newsletter informed us was "Californian Cool." Better yet, jeans last for years, which is good news to a klutzy girl, and better news to a grace-deficient woman.

But my heart started breaking a few years ago, when I found out about the havoc that denim production wreaks on the environment. The dangers of conventional cotton [2] are no small shakes, and include permanent damage to the soil, water, and farm workers exposed to a toxic cocktail of pesticides. And that's to say nothing of the elaborate washing process most jeans go through, using dyes and chemicals and pumice stones to get the most coveted rock star finish.

Lucky for me, 28-year old designer and founder of Freedom of Choice Jeans, Nathan Menashe, feels my pain. Even better, he has come up with a solution. His new Cascade wash jeans are made from organic [2] cotton and rinsed in an eco-friendlier wash, free of chemicals, enzymes and bleach.

"Overall, it's much more gentle on the environment," Menashe said.

What about the pumice stones?

"We do still use the pumice stones," Menashe admitted. "But until we can find a better way, we have to do what we can."

What Menashe can do is make a damn fine pair of jeans. The Filmore cut jeans have a slightly wider leg and more room in the derriere department, which is perfect for amply bumpered ladies like myself. They're also softer than almost any pair I've tried, though perhaps that's just my skin reacting to the first blush of non-toxicity. And the detailing is tops: U-shaped pockets and an embroidered dove on the back give these a Lenny-Kravitz-meets-Dalai-Lama feel (and not in the awkward "what on earth will they even talk about?" way).

While Freedom of Choice isn't the first to jump on the "green jeans" bandwagon, (Tierra del Forte [3] and Edun [4] come to mind), Menashe's aspirations come from a genuine desire to change his industry. "Too many people think that the earth is hundreds of years away from being in trouble, when the truth is, the trouble is closer," Menashe said. "My hope is that in ten years, a major part of the fashion world will move towards more eco-friendly solutions."

Menashe might do well to fully follow the trend he hopes to set—while Cascade wash comes in three different styles, not all washes at Freedom of Choice are eco-friendly, nor do all the jeans contain organically grown cotton. But until someone develops my absolute dream jean company (rock star cuts! reasonable prices! vegetable-based dyes! no copper rivets! an end to all butt cleavage as we know it!), I'm willing to support the designer in this portion of his mission.

So how much will support set me back? About $179 at Fred Segal's. But before you run across the room tearing at your Levi's, consider this: if you're like most Americans, you spend a good portion of your life in blue jeans. Probably more than in that suit/dress you forked over good cash for and wore once. So the real question becomes, what are you willing to spend for daily comfort, reliability and versatility? For me, $179 a year is a fair investment. And with Freedom of Choice under my belt, I can keep my obsession, and a little more of the planet, in check.

Freedom of Choice Jeans, Cascade Wash

Price: $179